AJ Allmendinger scored his second career pole, his first for Penske Racing, Saturday morning at Kansas Speedway. The “Dinger” lapped the newly repaved 1.5-mile oval at 30.683secs and a speed of 175.993mph, to lead the field for Sunday's STP 400.
“More than anything, we're trying to build momentum,” he said. “I put so much pressure on my shoulders to perform, because this Penske team is used to being up front, winning and getting poles. It's good to build that up, and I'm pretty jacked up.”
All three of the Penske Dodge Chargers qualified within the top 12, Sam Hornish Jr. lining up 10th for his first start of 2012 ahead of Brad Keselowski, who won this race last year, in 11th.
Kevin Harvick was top Chevrolet on the outside of the front row. Four Toyotas are next, led by Joe Gibbs Racing's Joey Logano ahead of Denny Hamlin and two of the Michael Waltrip Racing cars driven by Mark Martin and Martin Truex Jr. Logano will move to the rear of the field for an engine change.
Fords struggled with the top qualifying member of the blue ovals, points leader and Texas winner Greg Biffle, just 17th ahead of Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth.
Tim Andrews, Jeff Green and Tony Raines failed to make the field.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap
1. AJ Allmendinger Penske Dodge 30.683s
2. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 30.726s + 0.043s
3. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota 30.730s + 0.047s
4. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota 30.740s + 0.057s
5. Mark Martin Waltrip Toyota 30.772s + 0.089s
6. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 30.779s + 0.096s
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 30.802s + 0.119s
8. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota 30.804s + 0.121s
9. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet 30.841s + 0.158s
10. Sam Hornish Jr Penske Dodge 30.842s + 0.159s
11. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge 30.846s + 0.163s
12. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 30.870s + 0.187s
13. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 30.877s + 0.194s
14. Kurt Busch Phoenix Chevrolet 30.879s + 0.196s
15. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 30.892s + 0.209s
16. David Reutimann Baldwin Chevrolet 30.892s + 0.209s
17. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 30.909s + 0.226s
18. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford 30.948s + 0.265s
19. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 30.977s + 0.294s
20. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 30.988s + 0.305s
21. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 30.991s + 0.308s
22. David Gilliland Front Row Ford 31.004s + 0.321s
23. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 31.009s + 0.326s
24. David Stremme Inception Toyota 31.029s + 0.346s
25. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota 31.031s + 0.348s
26. Aric Almirola Petty Ford 31.034s + 0.351s
27. David Ragan Front Row Ford 31.044s + 0.361s
28. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 31.059s + 0.376s
29. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet 31.078s + 0.395s
30. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 31.080s + 0.397s
31. JJ Yeley Robinson-Blakeney Toyota 31.121s + 0.438s
32. Landon Cassill BK Toyota 31.144s + 0.461s
33. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 31.145s + 0.462s
34. Scott Riggs R3 Chevrolet 31.169s + 0.486s
35. Travis Kvapil BK Toyota 31.174s + 0.491s
36. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt-Ganassi Chevrolet 31.181s + 0.498s
37. Michael McDowell Parsons Ford 31.186s + 0.503s
38. Josh Wise Front Row Ford 31.258s + 0.575s
39. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt-Ganassi Chevrolet 31.303s + 0.620s
40. Casey Mears Germain Ford 31.398s + 0.715s
41. Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 31.464s + 0.781s
42. Reed Sorenson FAS Lane Ford 31.754s + 1.071s
43. Mike Bliss Humphrey Smith Toyota 31.506s + 0.823s
Did not qualify:
Tim Andrews Go Green Ford 31.581s + 0.898s
Jeff Green Falk Chevrolet 31.808s + 1.125s
Tony Raines Turn One Chevrolet 31.869s + 1.186s